THE SIDELINES : 2 Soccer Players Suspended
From Times Wire Services
ZURICH, Switzerland —
The International Soccer Federation (FIFA) today announced sanctions against Czechoslovakia’s Stanislav Griga and Portugal’s Paolo Futre for unsportsmanlike behavior during the Oct. 6 World Cup qualifying game in Prague.
Griga was barred from three games for resorting to “physical violence” after being sent off the field, said a FIFA statement. Futre was banned for two games for making “obscene gestures toward referee Aaron Schmidhuber,” it said.
The FIFA penalties mean that Griga will miss the first game of the World Cup final round in Italy next year if Czechoslavakia qualifies for the 24-nation tournament.
